Defence Against The Dark Arts Of Marriage
by Ravenclaw.Scarf.B.L.R.C
Summary: Cassiopeia Black, sister of Sirius Black, receives a letter on her seventeenth birthday that flips her world upside down, so she confides in her DADA teacher, the only person who knows what it's like to have your future decided for you. OCxLupin. Set during third book.
1. The Worst Birthday

**This chapter is just an intro to get a bit of background.**

I sat on the end of my bed. It was my seventeenth birthday, the birthday I'd been looking forward to for as long as I could remember. But a tear streaked down my cheek. I looked down at the letter in my hands, rereading it in disbelief.

 _Dear Cassiopeia,_

 _When you were very young your marriage was arranged between yourself and Draco Malfoy. It was agreed that you would be told when you turned seventeen, however, as Draco is younger than you you must wait faithfully until he_ becomes _of age._

 _As I will be dead by the time you read this, I trust that you will fulfil your role and please note that Lucius Malfoy will be sure to house you until such time that you will be legally tied to their family. I hope you will be a good wife._

 _Your mother,_

 _Walburga Black._

Draco Malfoy. My first cousin once removed. I knew I'd be expected to marry a pure blood, maybe even some relation of mine. But I at least thought I'd be allowed to choose.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

I looked over to the source of the noise and saw a daily prophet owl tapping on my window.

Sighing, I walked over to let it in, fumbling around in my pockets for some knuts.

Having payed the owl and retrieved my newspaper I glanced down at the front page.

I thought my day couldn't get any worse but when I saw the person on the front cover my face fell even further:

Sirius Black escapes from Azkaban.

My murderer of a brother. When I knew him I thought he was different. Being a gryffindor was the most obvious difference but the fact that he was kind made me like him. But I only met him occasionally, usually when my mother was locked up in her room crying over my father's death and he'd sneak in and bring me a chocolate frog or a handful of fizzing whizbees. I was young but even then I could tell he was different and looking back I'd never suspect him to blow up a whole street of muggles.

But what should I know. After all in just some stupid girl who's not even allowed to decide who she marries.

"Cassie, have you packed your trunk. We won't have much time tomorrow I have some business in the ministry I need to attend to before I can take you to Kings Cross." Barty Crouch shouted up the stairs.

"Yes, have a nice day at work." I replied, hearing the door slam shut behind him as I finished my sentence.

When my mother died I was taken in by Mr Crouch. I don't know why, he never seemed the type to take in an orphan but he just came out of the blue and said he'd look after me. Not that he really does. He just leaves me with the house elf. He is some distant relation of mine though, a third cousin I think. Pretty much any pure blood wizard is though.

Every year I started packing my trunk at least a week in advance and my final year at hogwarts was no exception.

I've had a pretty rubbish birthday so far. I'm used to not getting a present off Mr Crouch, he never remembers until I tell him and then I'll get sent a new quill or something a couple of days into term, but today's birthday takes the biscuit for the worst. A letter telling you your engaged to your cousin isn't exactly a brilliant gift.


	2. The Beginning

The train pulled slowly into Hogsmeade station and I carefully dragged my trunk off the luggage rack and picked up the cage which housed Pepper my tawny owl. I still felt a little clammy after the experience with the dementors, but luckily I'd managed to conjure a patronus before anything awful happened. I knew what I'd see if the dementor got too close. My past is just as haunting as my future.

I clambered into a carriage and sat against the window, slowly closing my eyes, resting my head against the cool glass, listening to the thump thump thump of rain against the roof. I could feel my hands shaking, and the air in my lungs felt colder than usual.

"Are you alright?" A deep, masculine voice asked as the carriage trundled into motion. I opened my eyes and saw a man, probably about mid thirties sitting across the carriage from me, he looked about the same age as Sirius.

"Yeah, just a bit shaken up by the dementors." I replied, my heart seemed to pump a little harder in my chest as our eyes met. His blue with my brown. He paused, as if entranced before suddenly pulling away.

"Have some chocolate." He said, handing over a bar. "I'm the new defence against the dark arts teacher by the way, in case you were wondering."

"Thank you." I said, putting a piece of chocolate into my mouth and immediately feeling warmth course through me.

"It helps, doesn't it." He said. I nodded in acknowledgment, glancing at his clothes, they were patched and looked as though they were on the brink of falling apart.

Suddenly the carriage ground to a halt, the journey seemed to have taken much less time than usual.

As I got up to leave I felt a hand rest on my arm.

"Please can you wait a moment." He said, softly.

"You guys go on ahead, I'll meet you in the great hall." I gestured to my friends.

I sat back down on my seat wondering why he'd asked me to stay.

"Are you Cassiopeia Black, Sirius Black's sister?" I sighed, I had hoped that people wouldn't put two and two together and treat me badly because of it.

"I am," I replied, "but please don't shout about it because teenagers are generally very judgemental people."

"Don't worry, I know from experience how difficult hiding a secret is from a whole school of eavesdroppers and gossipers." The professor said, "I only asked because you have a remarkably similar face and I saw your name on my register."

"You knew him?" I asked.

"Yes, at least I thought I knew him." He replied, looking a little shady, "we were friends in school."

"What was he like?" I questioned.

"Kind and loyal." He replied, looking down at the dirty floor of the carriage.

"If he was loyal then why did he betray his best friends to Lord Voldermort and blow up a whole street of muggles?" I asked, I felt almost angered by how calmly he described Sirius.

"You say Voldermort's name?" He replied, "I'm impressed, and are you a slytherin? Because you don't seem the type"

"I'm a gryffindor but you're dodging my question." I felt angry, I wanted to know more about my brother. But then I saw the look in his eyes and realised I'd pushed it to far. He was my teacher after all, I shouldn't have been so rude. "Sorry professor, that was rude of me."

"Miss Black," he replied formally, "I accept your apology and I will endeavour to keep your secret but some questions I do not know the answer to." He was staring me deep in the eyes, I felt a kind of urge to kiss him. What was I doing? I lost myself in his gaze. I knew he was lying about not knowing the answer, he just didn't want to think about it, but I felt captivated as I stared into his blue eyes. He leaned closer, then suddenly backed off.

"I suppose we ought to get going or we'll miss the feast." He said quickly, and before I could even nod he was up and scrambling down the steps and away from the carriage.

I was confused. I'd never felt like that before. My stomach felt as if it were squirming and the thought of the feast made it worse.

I stood and made my way out of the carriage, quickly stumbling towards the entrance hall and out of the rain. My feet slipped and slid on the wet grass and more than once I thought I'd fall. Reflecting on the conversation I realised I'd been rude, I'd spoken to him like a friend but in truth I'd only just met him.

What was going on? I cleared my mind as I made my way into the great hall, professor Flitwick strode past carrying the sorting hat and a three legged stool and I glanced up to the staff table to see the new professor sliding into his seat. I drew my gaze away and stopped walking, looking around for my friends.

"Hurry along now miss Black." The harsh voice of McGonnagal called out behind me, I turned to see her walking briskly into the hall followed by Harry Potter and a girl with rather bushy hair.

I muttered my apology and quickly scurried to my friends about halfway up the table.

"You took forever." My best friend Alice Chalker moaned.

"Yeah sorry, he just wanted to make sure I was okay. What with the dementors and everything." I lied, I would tell Alice the truth, at least most of it, once we were in our dorm but amidst the prying eyes and ears of gryffindor house was not the best place to tell someone you're the sister of an escaped murderer.


	3. The Patronus

**Warning a bit of mild swearing in this chapter. I hope you enjoy and please comment it would make my day! X**

"So you're Sirius Black's sister?" Alice asked eagerly, I had planned on telling her last night but as we share a dorm with the biggest gossiper in the school I decided it was best to tell her when we were alone.

"Yes, but please don't tell anyone. I don't want people knowing, hopefully they'll think I'm just some distant relation to him." I replied, I decided I wouldn't tell her about my arranged marriage though, I didn't want her sympathy, or her advice. When it came to boys she had about as much experience as a nun.

"I did wonder when I met you, but he's only your brother, and you've hardly met him have you?" She said, I knew she wanted some more details, probably about how I'd spent time with a murderous raving lunatic as a child. Alice always liked a good bit of gossip, but she'd been my best friend for six years and I knew she could keep a secret.

"I only saw him occasionally, he'd sneak into the house and put some gryffindor scarves up or something." I said, already I was growing tired of the conversation and wanted to head down to the great hall for some breakfast, "But last night, the new professor, he asked me whether I'm Sirius' sister and then he told me that they were friends in school."

"Maybe he's going to help him sneak into the castle." Alice squealed.

"Maybe." I replied half heartedly, I didn't think he would though, the look in his eyes, it was as if he felt betrayed.

"Let's go to breakfast." Alice announced suddenly jumping off my bed and striding towards the door. She always surprised me how quickly she could just end a conversation and I secretly wondered whether it was her abrupt manner that had stopped her from getting a boyfriend.

As we walked into the great hall I noticed that the owl post had already arrived and as I sat down on a bench opposite Alice, next to Percy Weasley, a large, official looking owl swooped over to me from a fruit bowl it had been perched at a little way along the table.

Tied to it's leg were two parcels and in its beak it clutched an envelope embossed with the stamp of the ministry. I retrieved my letter and untied the two parcels but before I could offer the bird a piece of bacon it flew off, looking proud.

"Why have you got a letter from the ministry?" Percy Weasley asked, God he has an annoying voice, and now he's head boy he'll think he has every right to know exactly what people get in the post.

"I don't know, I haven't opened it yet." I replied moodily, I thought it was a birthday present from Mr Crouch but nosy Percy didn't need to know that. I could tell that he was itching to find out so I deliberately opened the envelope as slowly as possible then just as I was about to pull out the letter from inside I set it down on the table and helped myself to some bacon.

Finally after a very long and drawn out breakfast I returned to the task of opening the letter. Percy had finished his toast and marmalade ages ago but was eagerly awaiting the moment when I would reveal the envelopes contents.

Slowly I drew out the parchment and very slowly unfolded it.

Dear Cassiopeia,

Happy 17th birthday, I'm sorry that I forgot but we are quite busy in the ministry at the moment what with the break out of Sirius Black.

I hope you like your presents.

Please owl me before October whether you plan on staying at Hogwarts for Christmas.

Once again, happy birthday.

Yours sincerely,

Barty Crouch Sr.

"Why on earth is a ministry official sending you a birthday present?" Percy Weasley asked in his extremely annoying voice. Part of me wanted to tell him to fuck off but I knew that he would deduct house points.

"Because he is my legal guardian." I replied.

"It must be interesting living with someone high up in the ministry, my dad works there but not in a very good job, so don't you have any family? Hang on a second," he paused, as if having reached an epiphany, "are you related to Sirius Black?" I really had to restrain myself from slapping him.

Why does Percy Weasley have to have quite such a loud voice? From the sudden silence I could tell that everyone had heard and that every single pair of eyes was pointed at me.

"Yes." I said with a sudden burst of courage, "I'm his sister." Several people gasped, "but it doesn't matter, just because we're related it doesn't mean I'm anything like him. I've hardly even met him, he moved out before I was born."

Percy seemed a little taken aback by my response before getting up quickly and hurrying over to Ravenclaw table to find his girlfriend Penelope Clearwater.

"That was so brave." Alice sighed, "Hey, I wonder what your presents are." Even after six years she still astounded me with how quickly she could change the subject.

I tore open the wrapping on a small box shaped gift. A watch, no real surprise, it was my seventeenth after all. But then I noticed a small card at the bottom of the box which housed the gold wristwatch.

It read:

Property of Walburga Black

I sighed, I didn't really want a watch that had belonged to my mother. If she knew I'd been sorted into Gryffindor she probably would have disowned me like she did Sirius.

I reached over to the other present. I unwrapped it and revealed another watch, brand new by the looks of it.

Inside was another note, this one written in Mr Crouch's neat writing:

Lucius Malfoy asked me to give you this, I have no idea why.

Barty Crouch Sr.

This seemed even worse than my mother's watch and I decided that I would wear neither.

Just then professor McGonagal walked over and handed me my timetable.

"You better hurry Miss Black else you'll be late for your first lesson. I glanced down at my timetable and saw that I had defence against the dark arts this morning, I quickly downed the last of my pumpkin juice and gathered my bag before quickly sweeping off to classroom 3c.

I walked there alone, none of my friends do defence against the dark arts and for most of last year they teased me about what a rubbish teacher I had, but this year would be different. I had a feeling professor Lupin would be a rather brilliant teacher.

"Just on time Miss Black, a few more seconds and I would have marked you as late." He called to me as I walked into the classroom.

"Sorry, it won't happen again." I apologised before claiming the last seat, right at the front of the class, and rather unfortunately next to Percy Weasley.

"Ok class, I fear we have rather a long way to go as your teaching last year was somewhat..." He paused, thinking for an appropriate word, "patchy." A few people chuckled under their breath. "Hopefully we can rectify that though. Today I'm going to be teaching you a rather advanced spell, usually this would be left until later in the course but given the presence of dementors I feel that now would be a more appropriate time to learn."

At the mention of dementors Percy gave me a somewhat dirty look.

"Now, can anyone tell me the charm we need to repel a dementor?" I raised my hand, I'd read a book in my fourth year about dementors and spent the best part of three months teaching myself the charm.

"Yes, Cassiopeia." He selected.

"The patronus charm." I replied.

"Very good, the patronus charm acts like a shield between you and the dementor. Now this spell is extremely complex and I don't expect anyone to manage it first time and it is quite different in a brightly lit classroom than to a dark night in the presence of a dementor." He had a knack of captivating the class, as if what he was saying actually mattered (very unlike Professor Binns monotonous lectures about goblin rebellions) but I was captivated by his eyes rather than his words. So blue and honest.

"The command we need is Expecto Patronum." He pulled me out of my somewhat trance like state, "but the words alone are not enough, you must fill yourself up with the happiest memory you can summon." Everyone drew out their wands so I followed suit.

For a second our eyes met, but I dragged them away, concentrating in stead on the happiest memory I could conjure - the day I was sorted into Gryffindor.

"Expecto Patronum." I shouted and my patronus emerged, a silvery wolf.

"Wow, did you already now how to do that?" He asked, I nodded. Leaning closer to me he added softly, "it's a little weak, is it always like that?"

"It's used to be brighter, I know the reason why it's so dim though." I replied, ever since I'd opened that letter on my birthday I'd felt miserable.

"Oh really, why?" He asked.

"I'd rather not say." Shifting my gaze to the floor. My patronus vanished.

I looked around, it seemed no one else had managed a patronus.

"10 points to Gryffindor." Professor Lupin said quietly to me before addressing the rest of the class.

"You need to think of the happiest memory you have, something really really happy." He said, "for example, miss Black would you like to share your memory," he looked at me with piercing eyes, "don't worry if it's too personal." He added.

"No it's fine, it's the moment I was sorted into Gryffindor." I said, it was happy simply because it separated me from my family which I had grown to hate.

"Brilliant, although your sorting may not work for all of you." He said to the class, then he turned to me while the rest of the class continued to try to conjure a patronus, "I'm guessing it's happy because it set you apart from the Black family."

"Yes, although if my mother had seen me sorted into Gryffindor I don't think I would have received my inheritance." I replied, I still felt guilty for receiving the Black fortune, after all, Sirius was disowned for being a Gryffindor. But I suppose along with the inheritance came the arranged marriage, how brilliant.

"Well done Penelope 5 points to Ravenclaw." Professor Lupin suddenly called out as a silvery owl shot out the end of her wand. Penelope certainly looked very pleased with herself, and Percy looked absolutely delighted at what his girlfriend had done.

"Miss Clearwater, would you care to share you memory?" The professor asked, and once again I was drawn in by his blue eyes.

"Ummm... It's a little private." She replied, giggling embarrassedly, and I noticed that Percy also seemed to go a little red. Well, well, well. I always thought of Penelope as a bit of a prude, I guess the head boy and girl like to make the most of each other's company.

"Okay, well done class, for homework, keep practising, and I would like an essay on whether you believe dementors should guard Azkaban." Professor Lupin said loudly, whilst he casually leant against his desk. "Well done today, class dismissed." The homework he'd set was certainly interesting, a lot more in depth than the essays we usually had to write and I could see a few people around the room looking a bit annoyed that they couldn't just copy out of a textbook.

I stood up, gathered my books and put them into my bag but just as I reached for my ink bottle I knocked it with my hand and it reached the stone floor with a loud crash.

"Bugger." I said, perhaps a little too loudly.

"Language, miss Black." Professor Lupin called, walking over to me.

A stream of curse words ran through my head. I'd forgotten he was not there, and now I'd made a big fool of myself in front of him.

"Sorry professor." I hastily added, pulling out my wand from my robes and used a non-verbal scourgify to remove the ink from the floor.

"Good non-verbal spell work though. I'm impressed." I flushed a little red at his praise, glancing up to meet his gaze. He paused as our eyes locked. His lips parted slightly, I had an impulse to crash my lips against his but as I felt myself begin to lean forward I quickly regained control and swiftly left the classroom.

"5 points to Gryffindor for an excellent non-verbal spell." I heard him announce as I strode out the door. I smiled to myself.

Maybe this year wouldn't be so bad after all, heck, we might even win the house cup at this rate.


	4. Quidditch

**Again, a bit of swearing in this hope you enjoy!**

I sat down on the hard wooden bench, as far away from Percy Weasley as I could manage and helped myself to a baked potato.

"You alright Cass?" Oliver Wood asked me.

I shrugged back, I was hardly having a great day, in potions professor Snape had docked points off me for my potion, it wasn't perfect, but it was by no means the worst, he was being horrible to me. Even more than usual. My optimism after this morning's Defence lesson had been quickly sapped by his steely tongue.

"I managed to arrange a quidditch practice for tonight, I want you down at the pitch 6:30 sharp." Wood told me.

"Bit keen? It's the first day." I joked back at him. He laughed.

"Naaah, I want to win this year, Cass." He replied, then he jumped up from his seat, flashed a grin at me and walked along to tell the twins about the practice.

At twenty past six I made my way down to the quidditch pitch, I'd planned on leaving slightly earlier but I'd got my period, accompanied by some hideous cramps. I wanted to cry, my life seemed intent on pissing me off as much as it could.

As I came out of a secret passage into the great hall I saw the twins, pushing open the front doors.

"Fred, George." I called out to them, quickening my pace to catch up.

"We heard Snape snapped at you earlier." Fred said to me.

"Don't worry, he'll be sorry." George added.

"What have you done?" I asked, curious to find out, but also a bit worried, I didn't want them getting into trouble.

"Just slipped a bit of hair growth potion into his pumpkin juice." Fred replied.

"You could get in serious trouble!" I said, genuinely worried.

"We'll be fine, anyway, we don't want our star chaser too upset." George replied. I smiled back, if only they knew.

I played awfully that evening. Usually the first time flying after the holidays I had an absolute blast, today I couldn't concentrate though.

Angelina threw the quaffle at me. I missed. It fell to the ground and landed with a thud. Before I knew it I was crying thick, heavy tears, I flew to the ground landed messily and stalked towards the changing rooms.

"Woah, Cass, what's up?" Wood called, he sped down towards me, dismounted and put his arm around my shoulder.

By the time I'd pulled myself together enough to speak the whole team was gathered round.

"I'm sorry." I said tearfully, "I got my period earlier and I'm just feeling really shit." Harry and the twins blushed a little at the mention of periods, Angelina and Katie cooed, Oliver pulled me into a hug.

"We should probably call it a day." Wood told the team as I cried onto his shoulder.

"I'm sorry, you should probably find yourself another chaser. I'm useless." I said weepily, I felt awful.

"Everyone has off days, don't worry about it. In fact, I have some chocolate in my bag." He comforted, squeezing my shoulders.

"Thanks." I smiled weakly, letting him lead me into the changing rooms with his arm around my shoulder.

The others had already headed back to the castle, the changing room was empty, and silent, apart from the slight pitter-patter of rain on the roof.

He rummaged around in his bag for a moment before pulling out a bar of honeydukes chocolate. He came and stood close to me, so close I could see the the texture of his chocolate irises.

"You're a great player Cass." He said, then he placed the chocolate in my hand.

"Oliver, what are you doing?" I said, as he leaned closer. I could feel his breath on my face.

"Kissing you." He leaned in, but I pushed him back.

"Stop. I don't want to kiss you." I exclaimed. Thoughts were running through my head, the letter from my mother, 'wait faithfully', and professor Lupin. I couldn't get him out of my head.

I saw the look on his face.

"I'm sorry, thanks for the chocolate." I muttered, then I turned and left. It was raining properly by then, big drops splattered the muddy ground. Thick heavy tears streamed down my face. Some of it was hormones, but I just felt overwhelmed. Everything was too much.

I started running as the rain and my tears fell harder, my feet squelching loudly in the mud. My dark hair now plastered to my face.

I reached the castle, my head pounding, my heart thumping and gasping for air. I prayed that Filch wouldn't see me tracking mud through the hall and I walked hurriedly back to the common room.

I stopped by the portrait of Merlin on the second floor and sat down. I tried to stop the tears from falling, I didn't want to walk back into the common room with a blotchy red face. The more I tried the harder it was.

"Miss Black?" I looked up to see professor Lupin with his head poked out of his office door. "Tea?"


	5. Talons and Tealeaves

I'm **not sure whether I should change the rating of this to an m. I haven't written anything m-rated yet but I have a few ideas of were it could go. It would really help me out if you could comment your thoughts. I'm really grateful for all the follows and favourites but I don't want to lose any readers by changing the rating. Thank you and I hope you enjoy this chapter. X**

 **warning: once again a bit of swearing**

Chapter 5

Talons and Tealeaves

I nodded and stood up. I must've looked a mess, but he greeted me with a friendly smile.

He gestured for me to take a seat and set about making the tea.

"Milk, sugar?" He asked.

"Milk please." I replied, trying to wipe away my tears.

He placed a large, steaming mug of tea down in front of me and pulled out a plate of Hippogriff shaped biscuits.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" He asked, I looked up into his kind, blue eyes. Clutching the warm mug in my hands.

"None of my problems can really be fixed." I replied, taking a sip of the scolding tea.

"If you want me to, I can listen." He said, our eyes locked.

"On my birthday I got a letter," I took another sip, should I tell him? "from my mother." I stopped. I didnt now whether or not to share it.

"It can be hard, to tell someone your secret." He said kindly, "it is for me." I looked at his face and saw sadness, and age lines, too many for a man his age. "But the people who cared about me, my friends, they were only ever supportive. They made it easier." He had tears in his eyes now.

"What was your secret. I promise, I won't tell." I said softly, I felt so close to him, like he was my closest friend.

"I'm a werewolf." That shocked me. He looked so nervous, and shocked himself, like he hadn't expected to tell me that.

There was silence for a moment or two.

"I'm so sorry." I said. It all made sense, the shabby clothes, the age lines.

He looked at me and started crying. "You look so much like your brother." He smiled when he said this, he reached out and pushed a stray piece of hair behind my ear.

The touch of his hand on my cheek made me feel warm inside, I wanted to hold his hand close to my face. But I knew I couldn't.

"I have an arranged marriage with Draco Malfoy." I said suddenly, it felt like a weight off my chest at least.

"I'm so sorry." He said, repeating my words from just seconds before.

"So am I." Then we were both crying, and then we were laughing. Then I didn't know if they were tears of laughter or sadness, but it didn't matter. I took a sip from my tea.

"Tea can solve a lot of problems, but right now, I think we'd be better off with firewhisky." He said, pulling a hip flask from his robes. I looked at him shocked, I certainly wasn't expecting that from him. My teacher.

Just as he was about to pour some into my mug he saw my facial expression and paused, "sorry, do you not drink?" He said, his face seemed to fall a little.

"Of course I drink, I'm a seventeen year old!" I replied, a smile lit up his face and he poured a healthy measure of whisky into my mug.

"Cheers!" He said, and we clinked our mugs together.

When the burning liquid hit my throat nothing mattered any more. We sat in silence for a while. It was comfortable, we didn't feel like a teacher and student. We felt like friends.

"At least you have time." Lupin said to me about of the blue.

"Sorry what?" I said, a little confused.

"Your marriage might have been arranged, but you're not married yet." He said, seeming very wise, but that might just have been the alcohol.

"I suppose you're right." It made me realise that I ought to make the most of the time I still have.

"Life can be fucking difficult, but, it can also be fucking amazing." He said, "sorry I probably shouldn't swear." He added, momentarily returning back to his responsible self.

"To be honest, giving firewhisky to a student is a bit worse than swearing." I said chuckling.

"You're probably right there, but, there's worse things I could do." He replied, then he stood up, mug in hand and downed it.

He walked over to me, so I stood up.

"You look so much like your brother." He said, with sadness in his eyes.

"How well did you know him?" I asked, he was really close. I could smell him.

"We were best friends." He replied, smiling sadly.

He leaned in towards me, then suddenly backed off.

"It's getting late, you should head back to your common room." He said, not making eye contact.

"You were going to kiss me weren't you?" I said. I wish he had.

He looked down. I walked over to him, and took his hand in mine.

"You're my student." He said, but he didn't let go.

So I kissed him.

It lasted a few sweet seconds before he pulled away.

"We've only known each other a day, and you're my student. It's wrong." He said, gazing out of the window.

"You're hardly taking advantage of me, I kissed you. And I am of age." I replied.

"What would it look like to someone else? I took you in here when you were vulnerable, you were crying! And then, I made you drunk." He hit back angrily, he seemed angry at himself though, not at me.

"I'm not drunk!" I exclaimed.

He put his hands on my shoulders.

"Yes you are," he said sadly, "now I think it's time for you to head back to your common room." There was finality in his tone.

I gathered up my things. I'd messed everything up. I picked up my mug but Professor Lupin stopped my hand.

"I think you've had enough." He said. I pulled my wrist away and slammed the mug down on the table so some of its contents spilled. Then I started crying, for not really any reason at all, just because I felt pissed off at life.

"I think it's best if I walk you back." He opened the door for me and followed me out into the moonlit corridor.

We walked in silence, but this time it was uncomfortable. It seemed to fill the air like treacle.

As we reached the fat lady, he broke the silence.

"I'm sorry Miss Black, I have no one to blame but myself. Goodnight." And with that he left.


	6. Snape's Grudge

**I hope you enjoy this chapter! Sorry it's been such a long time since I updated...**

 **warning: swearing and adult themes**

I stood there for a while, trying to think things through. I wish I had someone to talk to, about the whole situation, but he was the only one who would listen.

His words echoed around my head "I'm a werewolf.", I didn't feel disgust though. I felt pity.

"Are you going to stand there all night?" The fat lady barked rudely, her arms crossed.

"No sorry," I muttered. "Fortuna major."

The portrait swung open and I climbed inside. The common room was empty except for a few fifth years doing homework in the corner.

I walked up to my dorm, it was silent apart from the faint snores of Alice. I walked past the beds into the bathroom and switched on the shower. I stripped off and stepped inside, savouring the heat of the water as it cascaded over me.

I thought about our kiss. His sweet lips that tasted of chocolate and whisky, that burned with forbidden passion.

The thought of him made me tingle. I ventured my right hand downstairs, gently stroking myself, imagining what it would feel like for him to kiss me there.

When I reached my climax I called out his name and cried for the mess I'd got myself into.

When I woke up my cramps were back with a vengeance. I tried a pain relief spell but it hardly made a difference.

I walked down to breakfast with Alice, she asked my why I had gotten back so late so I told her that me and Wood had stayed late to discuss tactics. She seemed to believe me.

I had potions first, unfortunately. I liked the subject but hated Snape.

As I walked in he called out my name.

"Black."

I looked up at him but when I saw his face I had to stifle my giggles. He was sporting a beard to rival Dumbledore's.

"Is something funny?" He sneered.

"No professor." I replied meekly, just about managing to control my amusement.

"Yesterday, somebody spiked my drink with hair growth potion and I have reason to believe it was you." He announced vindictively, everyone turned to face me.

"What is your reasoning?" I asked politely, hoping he wouldn't dock me points for answering back.

He paused for a moment, "you weren't very happy with me removing you points yesterday. You acted out of revenge."

"It wasn't me." I thought about suggesting veritaserum, but didn't want to get Fred and George into trouble.

"Very well, but if I find proof that you did indeed spike my drink, and that you therefore lied to me, you shall be in detention until Easter." He turned on his heel and strode to the front of the classroom, obviously annoyed.

"I wonder who did it!" Alice whispered excitedly, but I feigned ignorance, knowing that Snape's excellent hearing could get the twins into hot water.

Alice and I sat at the back on a table by ourselves, my cramps seemed to be getting worse, despite them already being unbearable. The heat from the cauldron was making me flustered and I had to try really hard not to cry from the pain.

Finally I finished my potion, bottled it up and sat down in my chair praying that sitting would be a bit more comfortable than standing. It was worse and I got a wave of pain so bad I groaned aloud.

"Miss Black, perhaps you ought to visit the nurse." Snape sneered at me. I felt waves of hatred roll over me as I looked up at him.

"I'm fine." I replied, trying to stop myself from retching from the pain.

"Disrespecting a teacher, ten points from gryffindor." I wanted to shout back but I kept my lips buttoned knowing it would only incense him. I couldn't understand why he hated me so much.

"And another ten points for making a sub standard potion." That wasn't fair, my potion was perfect, probably the best in the class.

"It astounds me how you achieved an O in your O.W.L., to be honest I doubt you really deserved it." That made me cry, so I stood up and left, ignoring Snape. As I left the classroom I heard him docking fifty points. My life seemed really bloody awful.

I decided to go to professor McGonnagol and ask to drop potions.

When I reached her office, I wiped the tears off my face and knocked, hoping she'd be in there.

"Come in." Her brisk voice called out.

I opened the door and walked in and saw professor Lupin sitting opposite from McGonnagol.

"Sorry, if I'm interrupting I can come back later." I said, I was worried that they were talking about me.

"No need I was just leaving." He said kindly, I couldn't make eye contact with him though.

"How can I help Miss Black?" Professor McGonnagol asked once Lupin had shut the door.

"I'd like to drop potions." I announced.

"Is there a reason?" She said, staring me deep in the eye.

"This might sound silly... and childish." I replied, feeling a little nervous, would she defend Snape? "I think Professor Snape has made it quite clear that he doesn't want me in his class."

McGonnagol inhaled deeply.

"That's quite a brazen accusation." She said sternly, "are you absolutely sure he feels this way?"

"No other teacher has made me cry in a lesson before." I said, feeling as though I was on the verge of tears.

"Very well. But I shall speak to professor Snape, perhaps he can find another solution. You may leave." She said resolutely.

I muttered a thank you and left the room, at least she hadn't asked too many questions, I probably would have cried.

I couldn't quite face Alice just yet, so I headed off to defence against the dark arts early.

"Miss Black, you're very early." He said to me as I walked in, I couldn't look him in the eye, after last night and what I'd imagined in the shower.

"Don't feel embarrassed or ashamed, it was all my fault." He said softly, moving so he was closer to me.

"It wasn't though, it was mine." I replied, still not making eye contact.

"Please don't blame yourself Cassiopeia." The use of my name made me look up, there was sadness in his eyes.

"You know I don't even know your name." I said, trying to distract myself from the thoughts of last night. But it only made me think of how I'd called out 'Lupin'.

"Professor Lupin will do fine." The softness in his voice had gone, replaced with harshness, and laced with regret.

I didn't even reply. I just went and sat down at my desk and spent an age getting my books out.

"You seemed upset earlier." He said, trying to sound casual but not quite succeeding.

"Snape just really pissed me off this morning." Deciding to be honest. I looked up at him once I'd said this, he was leant against the edge of his desk. He opened his mouth to speak. I thought he might tell me off for swearing, but then the door burst open and Percy and Penelope came in and he didn't say a word.

He ambled over to my desk casually and leant over.

"Your brother and professor Snape weren't the best of friends in school, no doubt he simply holds a grudge." He said to me very quietly.

"Me and my goddamn brother." I muttered to no one in particular, Lupin chuckled though.

"Remus." He smiled, "my name." I said nothing in return but flashed him a smile. He straightened up and went back to his desk.

"Weasley, Clearwater." May I have your homework please.

I rummaged around in my bag and pulled out my homework, I'd written two scrolls on the subject of dementors, I'd had a lot more to say on the subject than I'd been expecting.

"Miss Black, I wasn't expecting you to hand this in today, you were" He paused, "busy last night."

"I did it before quidditch practice." I smiled back. He returned the smile knowingly, his gaze lingering a little longer than perhaps it should, but Percy and Penelope were too engaged in each other to notice.

Once everyone had arrived he started the lesson.

"Okay class, today I'm going to teach you a bit about basilisks and then I'm going to give you a short quiz to gauge how much, if anything, you were taught last year." He was a natural teacher. "so can anyone tell me anything about a basilisk?"

I raised my hand, when I was seven 'Fantastic Beasts and where to Find Them' was my favourite book and I memorised it cover to cover. I can no longer recite it word for word, but Newt Scamander remains an idol of mine.

"Miss Black."

"A basilisk is hatched from a chicken egg which has been incubated under a toad and takes the form of a giant serpent. It has extremely venomous teeth, of which the only known cure is Phoenix tears, and it can kill by making eye contact."

"Excellent." Professor Lupin exclaimed, "twenty five points to Gryffindor." I thought that was a little generous, but after Snape's fun and games this morning it seemed very small in comparison.

"Miss Black is absolutely right, a basilisk is hatched from a chicken egg which has been incubated underneath a toad." He paused so everyone could make notes, "now of course, this is highly illegal as basilisks are extremely dangerous and are a level five dangerous creature alongside other animals such as dragons and chimeras. As Miss Black said, they are snakes and therefore can only be controlled by parseltongues, which is why very few wizards have ever bred a basilisk. Although, rumour has it Salazar Slytherin himself had a pet basilisk." The sound of scratching quills filled the air, I'm very much enjoying having a proper teacher compared to the idiot that was Gilderoy Lockhart.

"If you fear a basilisk may be on the loose, then carrying a small mirror and using it to look round corners may save your life, as seeing the reflection of a basilisks eyes will petrify you, rather than kill you. Who knows the cure for petrification?"

I raised my hand yet again, but this was just obvious, anyone who'd paid attention last year to school gossip would know the answer to this.

"Mandrake restorative draught." I answered when he gestured for me to do so. I was surprised that neither Percy nor Penelope had answered given that Penelope was petrified last year and had been the given the very potion.

"Well done. Another ten points to Gryffindor. Now time for your test!" He said enthusiastically, a few people groaned but Lupin chuckled, "don't worry, this is more of an assessment of Professor Lockhart than of you."

He handed out the papers leaving mine till last,

"I've been very impressed by you so far Miss Black," He said quietly, "keep up the good work, also, have another ten points for Gryffindor." He smiled kindly at me before heading to his desk, where he began marking the homework. It was another thirty seconds until I realised I'd been staring at him instead of doing the test so I quickly dunked my quill in the ink and hurriedly began answering the first question.

After twenty minutes he announced that the time was up and collected in the tests. I thought I'd done alright, I knew most of the answers although I don't think I'd actually learnt any of it from Lockhart.

"Okay eveyone, I'd like you to make a start on your homework which will be researching chimeras whilst I talk to you all about the homework you handed in today."

I searched the contents of my textbook for Chimeras and began taking notes, meanwhile eavesdropping on what Lupin was saying to Percy.

"Mr Weasley, I have to be honest with you, this is a sub par piece of work. I was hoping for an essay which explored the opinions of both yourself and others but instead what you've given me is simply a regurgitation of facts, and unfortunately at NEWT level that's just not good enough anymore." I shot a quick glance sideways and saw that Percy looked thoroughly pissed off, I would have felt bad for him except that I was still holding a grudge from breakfast yesterday so I smiled to myself. Karma bitch.

He walked over to my desk so I quickly busied myself in my research, although I had a feeling he knew exactly what I'd been doing just a few seconds before.

He placed my essay on the table, I glanced quickly at it to see a bright red 'O' at the top of the paper before looking up to meet his gaze.

"This is a brilliant piece of work, absolutely brilliant. Twenty points to Gryffindor." Out of the corner of my eye I saw Percy shoot me a very dirty look. "Would you stay behind at the end of the lesson to discuss it further?"

"Yes of course." I replied a little too quickly, my heart racing at the thought of spending some time alone with him.

He smiled back at me, his eyes twinkling. We were so close I could smell his delicious, musky, choclatey smell. So close I could see the individual freckles on his nose. So close I could see the creases around his perfect lips. Suddenly he moved away from me and I mentally cursed for allowing myself to think about kissing him again.


End file.
